dc.description.abstract | This study set out to explore the influence of communication in strategic implementation
at Kenya Commercial Bank Group Ltd. Kenya Commercial Bank is one among the major
players of commercial banks in Kenya that form a subset in the set of Financial
Institutions. The emphasis of this study was laid on its effects in the overall strategic
implantation of the bank. It also shows what factors lead to the process of change if they
were planned or emergent and also resistance to change and its challenges. The business
environment is so dynamic that is forces organizations to be on the lookout for sudden
changes which can have adverse effects on their operations and business. These changes
can be political, economic, social and technological. The paper used the approach of a
case study to have an in-depth analysis of how the various factors attributed to strategic
change. Primary data was collected through the use of an interview guide and data
collected analyzed through content analysis. Key findings of the study revealed that KCB
underwent a number of effects in the strategic implementation process. The study details
the use of communication, leadership, training as ways in which the organization used to
prepare for the whole process of the change and the factors that helped mitigate the
influence were as cost cutting, creation of effective and efficient systems and processes
and reduction of duplication of work. These are detailed to show specifically as key
factors, KCB used them to prepare and train the staff and other key stakeholders that
were deemed important for the change. The study also presents the competitive
environment and how other competing financial institutions played a part in shaping key
decisions that would help in the transformation process. The study’s major limitation was
the unavailability of the senior management of KCB Group Ltd and to reveal more
information citing the strict rules that govern such information with the banks. This
explains why KCB Group has undergone structural changes within a very short period of
time that in five years. The challenges of change management are evident in the
reorganization and resistance to change, changing of the organization structure, balance
between planned and emergent change and restructuring especially downsizing. The
study concluded that management of strategic change had a number of challenges during
its implementation stage such as resistance to change by employees and the cost
implication of the process and it recommends that a similar study be carried out to cover
other financial institutions that have embraced change as a strategy. The study
recommended that there is need for the management to take a more proactive approach to
managing change within the organization. Employee involvement throughout the process
will ensure that those who have major responsibilities to carry out the plan understand the
plan and the reason behind the change and thus create a great sense of organization unity | en_US |